Monday, 6 September 2010

Following claims that users will need to be at least 6 feet away from their screen in order to use Kinect properly, Rare's senior engineer, Nick Burton has said such claims have been exaggerated and those with a smaller lounge will be able to play just fine:

“The camera configures itself, basically, when you set it up. Now, obviously, if you’ve only got that much space [makes a small space between his hands] between your TV there’s just not enough space for you to physically fit in the frame of the camera so you need to stand back a little bit."

“But it’s not like, ‘Hey, look at me over here,’ and you’re in a massive living room. We live in England.”

The claims spawned from a listing on Amazon which stated you'd need to be at least 6 foot away to play:

What will you need to play Kinect?You'll need any Xbox 360 console, a Kinect sensor, Kinect games and 6 feet between you and your television for play space. Check out The Kinect Checklist to make sure you're fully set up to start playing Kinect.

Kinect could be great, but it could also be complete pants. You'll get to wear those pants on November 10th and judge for yourself.

Troubled development studio, Realtime Worlds has reportedly sold it's 'Project MyWorld' title to an 'anonymous' American company. 23 staff were known to be working on the project and it's not yet unknown if they will continue or lose their jobs.

The studio's recently released MMO title, APB is also up for sale for $100 in a bid to make some money for the studio which went into administration last month. Read up on all the news surrounding the troubled Dundee based studio, here.

Following recent news out of Japan that Index Holdings, the parent company of Atlus (and its wholly-owned private subsidiary Atlus U.S.A), would be merging the Atlus brand into itself, Shinichi Suzuki, President and CEO and Atlus U.S.A has released a statement to assure gamers and fans that all will remain well:

"We want to assure our fans and affiliates that Atlus remains in operation and will continue, as always, to support our beloved community with the finest quality game experiences possible.""The Atlus-Index merger allows us to achieve greater synergy among the Index group companies and further strengthens the foundation of Atlus, both in Japan and here in the United States."

In traditional pre-event hype fashion, Capcom has launched a Tokyo Games Show website that reveals the titles they are due to show at this year's Tokyo Games Show.

Players will be able to get hands-on with playable versions of Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, Marvel vs Capcom 3 Fate of Two Worlds, Dead Rising 2, Okamiden and Monster Hunter Portable Poka Poka Felyne Village which has already been released.

The TGS-specific site also hints that Marvel vs Capcom 3 Fate of Two Worlds will receive a new character announcement at this year's show as well as currently unannounced special guests too.

Be sure to keep on checking Spong.com for updates on the titles that Capcom will be showing at this year's TGS as the above list is not an exhaustive one just yet.

Sony has recently confirmed in a press conference that they are due to release a firmware update that will allow the playback of 3D Blu-ray discs in October this year.

Speaking at this year's Internationalen Funkausstellung Berlin (known as the acronym IFA) the company has confirmed that a firmware update will be released next month that will support the 3D technology in upcoming Blu-ray titles.

Are you excited for the potential to watch 3D films on your PS3? And do you think the price of 3D TVs right now warrants their purchase or will you wait until their buy-in price becomes more reasonable. All thoughts in the comments below please.

Red 5 Studios has announced Firefall the studio’s first title brought to you by the team lead of World of Warcraft and the lead designer of Tribes.

Firefall is a team-based action shooter that thrusts hundreds of players together into a lush, dynamic open world combining intense competitive multiplayer and large-scale cooperative gameplay. Firefall is due for release near the end of 2011 on PC.

Kotaku has received confirmation from LucasArts that it is reducing their staff numbers at the studio.

A former developer at LucasArts who was working on the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II has suggested that as many as 85 staff have been laid off in the cuts that have been actioned recently. LucasArts remained more tight-lipped about the number of staff who received the axe but has confirmed that:

"LucasArts is reorganizing its teams to better address the needs of the internal studio. Unfortunately, this means adjusting staffing."

We recently reported on the cancellation of a 3rd instalment in the franchise previously so it is no little wonder that staff cuts have been made as well. All the best to those who are affected.

Namco has announced that Enslaved: Odyssey to the West has gone Gold which means it's done, dusted and is going to get pressed onto discs for retail. The game will released as planned on October 8th for Xbox 360 and PS3.

The text on the page reads "Attaka Abilia 422, Not to be opened till 9.16". Certainly sounds like a teaser to us but with silhouettes of a tank and several characters wielding familiar weapons in the background we can only think it is the unveiling of a new title in the Valkyria Chronicles series of games.Valkyria Chronicles 3 perhaps?

The "9.16" date on the website also coincides with when the Tokyo Games Show gets underway too. More than a coincidence perhaps?

THQ has launched a BETA website for gamers to download and participate in a BETA for Company of Heroes Online in North America. Sign up before 8th September and you'll get a free in-game pack. The BETA features two different armies, Allies and Axis, each with three different divisions.

The tide of controversy continues around EA’s big Christmas hope, Medal of Honor. The US military have requested that all 49 Gamestop stores located in its army and air force bases do not stock the game, due to its inclusion of playable Taliban forces in the game. An email obtained by Kotaku apparently reads:

“GameStop has agreed out of respect for our past and present men and women in uniform we will not carry Medal of Honor in any of our AAFES based stores. As such, GameStop agreed to have all marketing material pulled by noon today and to stop taking reservations. Customers who enter our AAFES stores and wish to reserve Medal of Honor can and should be directed to the nearest GameStop location off base.”

“GameStop fully supports AAFES in this endeavour and is sensitive to the fact that in multiplayer mode one side will assume the role of Taliban fighter.”

Last month Conservative defence secretary Liam Fox appealed to British stores to refuse to stock the game to show their support to the armed forces, claiming that he did not support a product that depicted British troops being killed - despite the fact there are no British forces in the game.

It remains to be seen whether any more bans will affect the game’s launch, although the irony is that all this publicity is doing a hell of a lot of free marketing on the game’s behalf.

Epic Games president Mike Capps has revealed the developer has serious plans to bring Triple-A titles to the iPhone. Capps stated it wouldn't be beneficial to compete with the existing casual title:

“It would not be smart to compete with the Bejeweleds and Angry Birds of the world on the iPhone."

“Everything’s supported. The difference, of course, is that it’s not quite as powerful a graphics processor as on the Xbox 360, so you’ll probably do some custom content work, but you’re using the same tool chain of UnrealEd and Kismet and the same physics tools and everything.”

“With the expansion of the Unreal Development Kit, we’ve got hundreds of thousands of folks who are messing around with the tools doing smaller projects, he adds. So we’re not really just about giant triple-A console games anymore. Those are the ones Mass Effect gets press, but there are lots of small hobby groups or casual gamers using Unreal Engine. I think it’s perfect for them. It’s what they’ve been missing.”

Capps went on to state it wouldn't just be Gears of War, but other top titles such as Shadow Complex. The developer has already shown off an Unreal Tournament 3 tech demo on iPhone. We were given a personal demonstration of it running on an Android OS based tablet at the Game Horizon Conference earlier this year.

The Oddworld series returns next year, with a HD remake of cult hit Stranger’s Wrath coming next Easter as a download-only title to the PS3. It is being developed by British studio Just Add Water, with original developers Oddworld Inhabitants overseeing the project. JAW’s Stewart Gilray commented:

“Since word got out that we’ve been working with Oddworld Inhabitants there have been many rumours circulating about what we’re working on. Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath is the first project in what we believe will be a long and fruitful relationship. Having the chance to update this great title and release it on PS3 is just a brilliant opportunity, not least for us, but for the fans too.”

The game will come in a 720p resolution with re-mastered dialogue, Move support and additional material, but JAW are not ready to discuss this yet. No other platform editions were mentioned at this time.

What happened over the weekend? PAX happened, and making a surprise appearance at the event was a playable demo of Duke Nukem Forever.

2K Games and Gearbox Software has announced Duke Nukem Forever will arrive in calendar 2011. Duke Nukem, the interactive entertainment industry’s most irreverent and quoted character of all time, will bring his signature brand of babe-lovin’, cigar-smoking, beer-chugging and ass-kicking action as he once again saves the Earth and our babes from hordes of invading aliens. Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K commented:

"All great things take time... a lot of time. After a hiatus from the video game world, Duke Nukem is back and better than ever. The return of the King from the glory days of shooters will satisfy our patient, die-hard fans, as well as a new generation of bubble gum-chewing, flat top and shades-wearing bad-asses. Make no mistake about it - Duke Nukem Forever is a testament to the era of when shooters were bodacious and fun."

Put on your sunglasses and prepare to step into the boots of Duke Nukem, whose legend has reached epic proportions in the years since his last adventure. The alien hordes are back and only Duke can save the world, again. Pig cops, alien shrink rays and enormous alien bosses won’t stop our hero from accomplishing his one and only goal: to save the world, save the babes and to be a bad-ass while doing it. The King of All Shooters is back with over-the-top weapons, massive aliens and unprecedented levels of interactivity. This game puts pedal to the metal and tongue firmly in cheek, among other places. Shoot hoops, lift weights, read adult magazines, draw crude messages on whiteboards or ogle one of the many beautiful women that populate Duke’s life; that is if you can pull yourself away long enough from kicking ass and taking names.

Duke Nukem was and will forever be immortalized in gaming history, and this is his legend. But will it live up to the hype...?

Thursday, 2 September 2010

The fight between Sony and the makers and sellers of the PS3Jailbreak hack is still ongoing in Australian courts, but Sony's efforts to maintain total control of the PlayStation 3 just took a broadside hit with the release of code that allows unsigned code to be executed on the system and could potentially lead to piracy.

Calles PSGroove, the code allows a standard USB dongle to bypass Sony's protection and execute homebrew software. However, there are key differences between Groove and Jailbreak. For one, whereas Jailbreak was being pushed as a one-stop shop for playing games from your hard drive, Groove is a highly involved hack. It requires compiling source code, and putting the code onto an AT90USB enabled USB stick via a development kit and flash technology. In other words, this is highly involved, and duffers stand the very real chance of blowing something up.

Building up for this month's Tokyo Games Show, Konami has unveiled its list of titles that it is due to show at this year's event.

Among the titles on the show floor will be upcoming action game Metal Gear Solid: Rising but it has not been confirmed as of yet if this will be in playable format or another promotional video for the game.

They will also be hosting on behalf of other developers the titles The Legend of Heroes: Zero no Kiseki (Falcom), Catherine (Atlus), Metal Fight Beyblade (Hudson), Metal Fight Beyblade Portable (Hudson), Momotaro Dentetsu World (Hudson) and UFC Undisputed 2010 (Yukes).

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